Cracking and Reusing: An Amazon Basic Safe

The story starts with a locked Amazon Basic safe. I couldn’t find the key anywhere, and although I was almost 99% sure it was empty, I just wanted to be safe. I tried the common ballpoint pen trick to try to jimmy it open but that failed.

I tried the drop and open technique where the safe is supposed to be opened as it falls. This is supposed to let the lock outside of the catch. That also failed for me.

 

 

Breaking into the safe

Initially, I had lost both the key and combo to the safe and wanted to get inside. I tried the normal/useless ways of getting in such as prying, dropping an opening to try to catch the latch and more. At one point I tried jamming the barrel of a ballpoint pen into the cylindrical lock after hearing reports of it working on Amazons own reviews. For a little while, it felt like I would never be getting into this safe.

However, once I took a moment to think about the situation getting inside was much easier. I figured that there’s a powered electromagnet for the clasp (as there were reports online about strong magnets unlocking them). Therefore there must be some way for it to receive power once the correct code is entered into the panel.

Aha!

I popped off the panel, and… To my dismay, Amazon had prepared for this.  Inside revealed a ribbon cable, which was connected to the matrix for the keypad input, along with three additional power wires for the LEDs. The actual electronics remained inside the door of the safe. They took the time and added manufacturing costs (nearly DOUBLE the length of wire) to ensure that removing the panel would not allow an intruder into the safe.

Unfortunately for Amazon, they neglected something both fatal and obvious. When the front panel is removed, the slot for the ribbon cable is HUGE.

I noticed the back of the PCB and then the connectors. One of these powered the locking mechanism. Using some jumper cables and a 9v battery I was able to open the safe and finally retrieve its contents.

 

The Idea of a smart lock addition

I decided adding a ‘smart lock’ would be a good idea. With such an addition a safe can do many more checks such as multiple simultaneous pin entry, remote Bluetooth unlocking and even unlocking via the internet is possible. It is actually a very simple project, with the hardest part being the code behind the Arduino as it will also have to handle the screen.

I plan on using an Arduino Tiny to interface with the safe, and a Pi Zero to interface with whatever else. I’m also considering using TensorFlow and this together in a future project for facial unlocking.

 

Here is a proof of concept sketch

Left – Plans for the Arduino safe. Right – an Early prototype of the safe. Numpad not implemented.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please excuse how primitive it looks. Just trying to convey my basic idea. All of this new wiring would be inside the case in a finished one, but for now its out and easily accessible. It allows locking and unlocking of the lock via signaling on a pin on the Arduino unit. Without the screen, the entire setup could be completely hidden and miniturized, even with a Rasperry Pi connected within it.

 

 

In progress. Please check here soon for a detailed documentation of the smart safe.

 

Current (Ongoing)